Yes boys and girls, it's Net Applications time. Sure, their figures are flawed, and sure, they're misused all over the non-scientifically educated media, but that doesn't mean they do not indicate trends. One of those trends was a slowly rising popularity of Linux, which hit 0.93% market share in August 2008, only to sink back again during the following months. Well, it's April May 2009 now, and Linux has finally crossed the 1% market share line!

Not quite. Without a good foundation it's tough (not impossible, but tough) to write good apps, and also the without a good OS the security of all your stuff is negligible. I'd say they both matter. Without good OS it doesn't matter what you run in it, and without apps even the Holy Grail of OS-development is useless.

Not quite. Without a good foundation it's tough (not impossible, but tough) to write good apps, and also the without a good OS the security of all your stuff is negligible. I'd say they both matter. Without good OS it doesn't matter what you run in it, and without apps even the Holy Grail of OS-development is useless.

Well, not quite. just use a secure development platform (use a robust virtual machine). most applications does not need low level capabilities. Hint: Android. Besides, linux is not that secure anyway. But with enoug sand boxing it is ok, just like any other OS.

Not quite. Without a good foundation it's tough (not impossible, but tough) to write good apps, and also the without a good OS the security of all your stuff is negligible. I'd say they both matter. Without good OS it doesn't matter what you run in it, and without apps even the Holy Grail of OS-development is useless.

not quite.
on one hand, for the vast majority of people, the OS is just a mean to run applications that allow them to leverage the workflow that suits them best

without good applications no END USER will be interested in the OS, for as good as it may be -
except maybe as a technology showcase or a toy, or for those who don't care about industry - recognized, professional grade applications, and /or take pleasure in contemplating the exquisite technicalities of operating systems, or fiddling with alternative operating systems for the sake of it...

OTOH, application development is a classic example of a chicken and egg problem: a platform can hardly grow without catering to the widest possible audience (ie without a supply of good and diverse applications)
but development of new applications would require a large and vital user base for the target platform, in order to be a worthy investment, and not a risk...
or, ISVs could take the initial risk, if given enough incentive - in the form of good libraries, development tools and so on, or maybe assistance in writing / porting their app, or actual funding, or even backward and forward compatibility in the platform (an often overlooked key factor in preserving one's investment) ...

catering to third party developers in every possible way can often contribute to the overall success of the platform, for as poorly engineered, implemented and performing it may be, more than allegedly superior kernel implementation features - as it removes one part of the above riddle

providing *good tools*, a "good enough" but *consistent* platform and the assurance the platform worked well for microsoft in the DOS and win 3.1x times, maybe FOSS could learn something...

OTOH, application development is a classic example of a chicken and egg problem: a platform can hardly grow without catering to the widest possible audience (ie without a supply of good and diverse applications)
but development of new applications would require a large and vital user base for the target platform, in order to be a worthy investment, and not a risk...

This chicken and egg problem has been surmounted already.

We have Qt under LGPL. ISV can choose win32 as their main sales platform "right now", and provide a Linux version as an almost free bonus. Admittedly, we've had that option for a long time with Gtk+/wx, but they really couldn't cut the cross platform thing as well as Qt (and the pricey commercial license was reasonable option *for some*, but out of reach for many).

If you are a company that is paying for custom software, you'd do well to require that it be cross-platform (to avoid excluding part of your desktops, now or in the future).

Note that LGPL'ing Qt only happenend in 2009.

KDE4 started becoming realistic option in 2009.

We are seeing lots of stuff happening right now. It may be "cheap shot" to ridicule the market share, but those with eyes and ears for what's happening in the industry can't escape sensing the momentum that is piling up.

Not quite. Without a good foundation it's tough (not impossible, but tough) to write good apps, and also the without a good OS the security of all your stuff is negligible. I'd say they both matter. Without good OS it doesn't matter what you run in it, and without apps even the Holy Grail of OS-development is useless.

You can argue this point, but Microsoft is currently spending billions to run things in the cloud, and moving many of its bloat onto the internet, both for lock-in...and its not the only one.

That said Linux is looking stronger as nobody can argue that the space between the OS and the apps is looking weaker compared to that of the browser and the internet.